If you have a dog that doesn’t want to go out of the house or is sticking close to the house, be patient. Time is your best friend. The more sensitive your dog is, the longer it will take him to explore the yard. Eventually, your dog will use the whole yard.

The main problem with this scenario is that your dog’s enthusiasm is very low and his containment is very high. Your job is to get his enthusiasm back up. Here are some tips that will help you work through this challenge:

• Try not to worry about your pet. Picking up on your anxiety may hinder his learning. Again, time and use of the yard without corrections will solve this challenge.
• Do NOT take your dog on a leash near the boundary.
• Do NOT take the Dog Guard receiver collar off the dog. If you do, the entire process will become inconsistent and the dog will become more confused and take even longer to settle in.
• Do NOT let the dog hide in the house. Make him go out even if he sits next to the door all day. The only way he will loosen up is if he is outside to explore.
• Play with your pup in the yard. Kids and other dogs expedite things greatly!
• Use food and water to encourage the dog to go away from the house. Start with small distances first.
• Try and limit the number of corrections your dog gets. Right now your dog is “over contained.” Don’t play with him near the boundary or do anything to coax him towards the edge. Another correction at this point will only discourage him from using the yard. Because some dogs can’t tolerate more than one correction every two days, try and extend the amount of time between corrections.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 11:01 am and is filed under Training Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.